Owls lose to Bearcats, still looking for first conference win

Temple Women’s Soccer (1-7-4, 0-4 American Athletic Conference) lost to the University of Cincinnati (5-1-5, 1-0-2 AAC) 3-1 on Sunday afternoon in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Owls failed to create consistent runs in the final third, only registering three shots. Temple has now lost all four of their conference matchups this season.

KEY PLAYS

• In the 12th minute, Bearcats’ sophomore forward Paige Miller scored on a shot from inside the penalty box to put Cincinnati on the board first.
• Two minutes later, Owls’ sophomore midfielder Carly Steinberg had a clean shot opportunity, but Bearcats’ junior goalkeeper Anna Rexford came up with the save, keeping Cincinnati in the lead.
• At the 19-minute mark, Bearcats’ sophomore midfielder Emma Schmelzer scored from inside the penalty box on a ball that got by Owls’ sophomore goalkeeper Kyla Burns to put Cincinnati up by two.
• In the 60th minute, Steinberg scored off a corner kick from Owls’ senior forward Emily Kavanaugh for a set piece goal, making it a 2-1 game.
• At the 82-minute mark, Owls’ sophomore defender Jessica Wallace had a strong look at the goal, but Rexford came up with the save to keep the Bearcats in the lead.
• In the 87th minute, Miller had a breakaway opportunity and got by Burns for her second goal of the game, pushing the Bearcats’ lead back to two. 

THE NUMBERS

• Burns finished with six saves, pushing her season total to 66.
• Steinberg scored her second goal of the season. It was the third of her collegiate career.
• The Owls were outshot 24-3 by the Bearcats, marking the tenth consecutive game that Temple was outshot by their opponent.
• Temple recorded just one corner kick — their fewest in a game since they had zero against Rutgers University on Sept. 1.

WORDS FROM THE COACH

“We truly did not have our best stuff,” said head coach Nick Bochette. “I was proud of how the girls dug deep but credit to Cincinnati, they were very committed to their game plan from minute one and we found it difficult to get our feet out from under us but that is a better team than they were last year.”

ON TAP

The Owls will look for their first conference win of the season when they return to the Temple Sports Complex to take on the University of Memphis (4-4-4, 0-1-3 AAC) on Oct. 16 at 12 p.m.